Hi - I want to charge for a wedding in the uk. I have read that £150 is the correct price for two hours and that the very most is £400. What do you think.

For receptions within thirty minutes of home I get $600 in Alabama.

Bob

Bob is that for the full reception or for a specific amount of time?

I'm not Bob, but I would say it's probably for 2 hours. That seems to be the typical time for such an event.

That is for two hours of walk-around during the reception. That is also cheap because there is only one hour of total travel to and from the event.

I have done weddings in which I produced doves during the ceremony and the rings were tied to the doves' legs. That is not the same at all. That is treated as a theater show.

Bob

Wow Bob, that would be a beautiful upsell to a wedding.
Producing the rings in such an amazing a breathtaking way.

Cory,

It can be a beautiful thing. Reach for a flower; it becomes a silk. Produce one dove from the silk and retrieve the ring. Then do the other.

Lucy and I also do what we call our "I've Got This Friend" routine. An empty cage is draped. We both produce and vanish a dove. When the cage is uncovered, the two doves appear together in the cage!

Scheme!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Art Vandalay - £150 is a starting point if you've never performed the wedding market. But it is no now way 'the normal'. People will not book you because you are considered too cheap - I know because a I once charged that!

In the UK, weddings cost an average of £15,000 to set up. Take into account the brides dress (most of them reach £1,000 easily), rings (£3,000 and above), the suit hire for the groom and his ushers, and the bridesmaids dresses, the reception entertainment (as well as a magician....most have a DJ if not a band), the food (can be up to £50 per head....with 200 guests, that's £10,000 just on food!) wine and champagne, venue hire (£700 and above maybe?), flowers (£3,000 can easily be spent on bouquets, table decorations, etc), the list can go on and on.

If you are spending so much money on a wedding, £150 won't really matter, so if they do book you, they wont give their full attention to you. Go in at a higher price and then you will become 'part' of the wedding, and they will tell al the guests "make sure you see the magician." Most weddings can get you £350-400, but you need to decide which type of weddign you think it will be. I.E. celebrity weddings, the sky's the limit. I think chocolate fountains can be up to £800....Steven Gerrard had TWO at his wedding.

An entertainer/magician should have a set hourly rate for close up magic/walk around and charge it for all events. The key is upselling them for the larger illusions such as making the bride and groom magically appear....

The last wedding reception, I charged $6,100 for two illusions and one hour of walk around, and the wedding prior I charged $1500. for 30 minutes of walk around and 20 minutes stand up comedy magic show....

Weddings are willing to pay $$$. So have cool concepts like Bob and you could always have packages that will increase your base fee....

The top dollar weddings use an event planner. Event planners are often paid on a costs-plus basis. Don't be shy! Good event planners can get you as many good gigs as a good agent. It's worth your time to meet them. Typically they want something very predictable yet distinctively elegant.

Some can even afford to have the couple magically appear before driving away.

Many people think of saving money at a wedding like bragging about the money saved in attorney fees while sitting in prison.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander